Quasi-wireless capacitive energy transfer for the dynamic charging of personal mobility vehicles

Electrified personal mobility vehicles are extremely important tools for elderly and disabled individuals. These devices offer freedom to partake in daily activities that would otherwise be difficult or perhaps impossible. Nearly all electrified mobility vehicles are battery powered, making the act of charging a necessity. Loss of power from an uncharged battery could place users in frustrating or even dangerous situations. Dynamic wireless charging is a promising solution to mitigate this problem. However, high installation costs to sidewalks and roadways could potentially reduce wide-scale use of these wireless solutions. Here we present a method of dynamic wireless power transfer that operates over inexpensive surfaces, greatly reducing the implementation cost. Our system utilizes a unipolar capacitive coupling to transfer energy to a special standing wave receiver which in turn delivers power to the vehicle. We demonstrate charging of a 200 W personal mobility scooter over a 3 m long aluminum foil surface and discuss system efficiency, safety, and optimization parameters.